CY44-26

Request of the Planning Agency to review Mankato Development District No. 51 Plan (“Plan”) to determine conformity of said plan to the General Development Plan for Development or Redevelopment of the Municipality as a whole. The subject properties are described as Lots 5 through 12, Block 1, Quarry View Addition subdivision. 

The Planning Agency is the applicant. 

The applicant is requesting to review Mankato Development District No. 51 Plan (“Plan”) to determine conformity of said plan to the General Development Plan for Development or Redevelopment of the Municipality as a whole. The Plan is proposed in conjunction with the redevelopment of property located in Quarry View subdivision. Planning Commission review of the Plan is a prerequisite requirement for the City to approve the use of tax increment financing assistance to aid development of the project.

The subject property is part of the Quarry View subdivision, and is legally described as Lots 5 through 12, Block 1, Quarry View Addition. 

The property consists of vacant, platted lots. 

The subject properties are zoned R-3, Limited Multiple Dwelling District.

The subject property in question was recently reviewed for multiple Planning & Zoning Approval Items:

Vacation of a portion of Lind Street included within the proposed preliminary plat area was reviewed and recommended for approval by the Planning Commission at their February 25, 2026, meeting. The City Council approved this request at their March 23, 2026, meeting. 

Review of a Preliminary Plat of the subject property, known as Quarry View Addition, was reviewed and recommended for approval by the Planning Commission at their March, 25, 2026, meeting. The City Council approved this request at their April 11, 2026, meeting. 

The City Council approved the final plat of Quarry View Addition at their May 11, 2026, meeting. 

The site contains environmentally sensitive bluff areas (area exceeding 17.6% slope). 

Public utilities will be available to the subject property following completion of the Germania Park Phase 5 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects.

On May 11, 2026, the City Council approved the final plat for Quarry View subdivision, located in the Germania Park neighborhood. With those approvals, this subdivision was determined to be consistent with the City’s planning and zoning regulations.

The City has received a proposal for the creation of a Development District for the further development of Lots 5-12 within the subdivision for the creation of owner-occupied housing. 

The City of Mankato has received a request from the developer to consider financial assistance in the form of tax increment financing to offset the development costs.  However, in order to establish a tax increment district, a Development District must be established that contains the possible forms of assistance or other statutory tools the city can use to aid in development, in conformance with the land use plan. The Development District is subject to Planning Commission review, not the tax increment district.

The Development District Act, Minnesota Statutes, sections 469.124 to 469.133, requires that areas proposed for development district designation must be found to be located in areas of the community that are “already built up”. For the following reasons, the proposed Development District qualifies:

1. The vicinity of the Development District is urban. Existing land uses in the vicinity include industrial and residential properties. Zoning in the vicinity corresponds to the land use pattern.
2. City sanitary sewer, storm sewer, and water lines are available throughout the Development District and surrounding vicinity.
3. The vicinity of the Development District includes existing City streets and roadways.
4. The City’s comprehensive plan has designated the Development District as an area for medium-density residential.

Minnesota Statutes, section 469.126, subdivision 2, in part, authorizes a municipality to accomplish the following activities: “Within these districts the municipality may adopt a development program consistent with which the municipality may acquire, construct, reconstruct, improve, alter, extend, operate, maintain or promote developments aimed at improving the physical facilities, quality of life and quality of transportation. The municipality may acquire land or easements through negotiation or through powers of eminent domain.”

Activities associated with the establishment of the Development District and implementation intend to serve public purposes by facilitating attainable owner-occupied housing, supporting necessary site and infrastructure improvements, encouraging private investment, and increasing taxable market value within the City. The Development Program is intended to provide a coordinated framework for public actions and financing needed to facilitate development that is not reasonably expected to proceed in the same manner within the reasonably foreseeable future without public involvement.

The City intends, to the extent permitted by law, to accomplish the following objectives through implementation of the Development Program:

Staff submits the following findings:

1. The proposed development district conforms to the goals for residential areas in the Land Use Plan.
2. The proposed development district conforms to the locational criteria as listed in the Land Use Plan.

Staff recommends approval of Development District No. 51 and recommends adoption of said resolution.